Alcohol brief intervention in community pharmacies: a feasibility study of outcomes and customer experiences

Abstract

Community pharmacy-based alcohol BI is a low cost service that may not have immediate beneficial impact on health and social service use, but can be effective in reducing drinking in hazardous drinkers.

Prescribing or dispensing medication represents the best opportunity for GPs and pharmacists to engage older people in alcohol-related clinical conversations

“…Almost all participants agreed it was part of a GP's role to raise alcohol‐related matters, a finding reflected internationally, and over the half the sample agreed it was appropriate for a pharmacist to raise the issue. This aligns with other studies which have assessed pharmacy clients’ perspectives on alcohol‐related initiatives such as provision of advice and brief intervention …”

“…Internationally, reported rates of counselling by primary health care providers including GPs on alcohol and other common lifestyle behaviours are low, ranging from 1–5% . More specifically, low rates of alcohol‐related interventions in pharmacies have also been observed . However, as this current study has indicated, medication prescription and reviews and dispensing processes provide an ideal opportunity for GPs and pharmacists to engage older clients when they are likely to be most receptive to receiving alcohol‐related information tailored to their specific needs and circumstances.…”

Brief Intervention for Risky Alcohol Use: A Critical Analysis

“…Healthcare professionals such as general physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers community pharmacist were involved as a principal therapist in a variety of settings and were found to be efficacious in reducing harmful or heavy drinking regardless of the healthcare professionals involved as the therapist [52][53][54][55][56].…”

‘Making the invisible visible’ through alcohol screening and brief intervention in community pharmacies: an Australian feasibility study

“…The researchers conducted a subsequent pre- and post-experimental study involving 26 community pharmacies during which three-quarters of the participants were identified as risky drinkers. Three-month follow-up interviews with people drinking at hazardous levels found that they significantly reduced their consumption and drinking days [35]. …”